Stranger like me
by we.are.the.grapes
Summary: Dan is lost, an outcast within his school and feels completely alone, but the new kid with the bright blue eyes is different. They become friends and form a relationship closer than any other. Everything sees to change for the better - will Dan change too?
1. Beginnings

**A/N: Um, hi. This is my first fan-fiction I've ever had the confidence to upload, and I really want to know what you guys think of it. If you honestly think it's no good, tell me! It'll help me to become a better writer, so yeah, that's it. Have fun reading! :)**

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**WARNINGS - Language. That's about it. **

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**Chapter 1**

_*BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP* _The shrill sound of my alarm clock echoed through the silence of my bedroom and I winced, being shoved out of my dream and straight back into reality. I opened my eyes, testing the brightness of the room before lifting up my arm and hitting the snooze button for the shrieking that rattled my brain to stop. My whole body ached with the thought of waking up so early, so I reverted back into hibernation mode and dived back under the warmth of my covers. Just for a few more minutes.

_*BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP* Groaning_ to myself inwardly, another arm appeared from the duvet covers and smashed the random buttons, looking for the power. Still more than half asleep, I stumbled out of my bed, careful not to fall over, and proceeded to search for a t-shirt to wear. A black and white one with no visible stains and a slightly fresh smell stood out on top of the clothes pile. I shoved it on, not worrying about bottoms as I hurled myself into the bathroom next door.

The light was much brighter than my bedrooms, and my eyes didn't thank me for it. A small hiss of pain escaped me as my pupils constricted. Once fully adjusted to the light, the wall mirror in front of me took my attention away from bright bathroom lights and onto my own reflections state of appearance. Countless nights of staying up late to browse the internet had obviously taken their toll on my body; anyone could see that I was sleep deprived. A curly mop of a side fringe hung across my face, whilst other bits of deep brown hair sprang out from my head at all angles. Tired, lifeless eyes with large bags underneath each stared back at me, my back hunched from sleeping in a funny position and being too tall for my own bed. I sighed, and turned away from mirror, looking back the time and deciding I might as well get into the shower while no one else was awake. After washing my hair with a ridiculously fruity shampoo, I sprinted back to my room to get dressed.

A white button up shirt, a navy blue tie with our school logo displayed proudly in the middle, a navy blue v-neck jumper, black trousers, a blazer that I would never grow into and some hilariously nerdy Pokemon socks that no one would ever see under my shoes left me practically ready for the oncoming day ahead. My hair straighteners were already in their rightful position beside my bed, and as I used them to de-hobbitise my hair, thoughts of what exactly the oncoming day would actually entail raced around my head. I had my drama exam in a few weeks, so I guess rehearsing for that would be one thing… But the rest? I didn't really want to think about that.

"Shit! Ow, ow, ow, ow!" I shouted, maybe a bit too loud as my now burnt finger stung in pain. Too much thought, not enough hot hair straightener concentration. When my hair was straight to an acceptable level, I left the burning utensil to cool down, grabbed my bag off from a pile of clothes on the floor and crept down the stairs. Swinging my arm on the end of the banister and into the kitchen, I found my mum making breakfast.

"Daniel! You're up earlier than usual, what's happening as school today then?" My mother beamed at me as I reached into the fridge and pulled out the orange juice, taking swigs from the carton that I knew she would probably scorn me for.

"Nothing important." I gargled through a mouthful of juice, but the look on her face told me she wasn't convinced.

"I think I know you better than that love, you wouldn't wake up this early if it was the oncoming apocalypse for goodness sake! And Daniel, stop drinking from the carton and get a glass like everyone else, we don't want to share your germs." She gave me a stern look as carried on cracking eggs into a pan. Finished with the carton anyway, I pushed it back into the fridge and shut the door with my foot;

"Honestly, mum, its nothing, I just wanted to be there earlier is all." I smiled what I hoped was a convincing smile and turned away to pick up my coat. She laughed when I nearly tripped over my own feet and set about dishing up the breakfast food, it _did _smell pretty good, I was never normally up in time for breakfast…

"Sure you don't want to stay for the full English? Your father will be up in a minute." I reassessed the situation at the mention of my father and stuffed my arms inside my jacket, getting stuck along the way and struggling for my hands freedom.

"No, mum that's okay. Thanks though! See you later!" I hurled my bag onto one of my shoulders and opened the door, letting in the chill air of the outside weather. Stepping out into the cold, I took a sharp breath in and paused to look around. It was still dark, and the sludge that lined the roads from last weeks trickling of snow encouraged me to stay cautious when walking to my school. January's gloomy atmosphere matched my mood as I trudged through the pavements, hands deep in my pockets to stop them from going blue, headphones in and up full volume.

Though the sky was grey; the emptiness of the roads, save for a few early risers on there way to work, left me in peace. No hassles or worries enveloped my mind; it just blankly listened to the crooning voices and guitars of my iPod that I didn't have to pay much attention to. It was a short walk to the entrance of my school however, and my peaceful mindset wouldn't last much longer.

As I approached the gates surrounded by groups of other teenagers chatting amongst themselves, I felt my headphones being ripped form my ears as a tall, rounded figure loomed in front of me. Cold eyes set on a stocky head and horrid sneer looked back at me;

"Ey, mornin' bender, what're you doin' here so early then?" The taunting tone of Leon's question made me turn my head in disgust and the thick drawl of his accent made my skin crawl. Where do these people learn to speak English? Instead of replying to his question with a witty remark I'm sure he wouldn't even understand, I simply ignored it and tried to walk past him.

"Where d'ya you're goin? Too much of a faggot to answer me huh, dickhead?" A strong, fatty hand lifted out in front of me blocking my path. His mocking shouts had attracted the attention of a few more stocky twats like him, all crowding around me, leaving me with no more options of escape. Most weren't even taller than me, but the stances in which they held themselves were intimidating to say the least.

"Jesus, you look like a fucking wreck, too busy whoring yourself out to the public to get any sleep huh?" A guy who I think was called Jason called out from my left, leaving the others to laugh at was I suppose was meant to a funny remark. The words stung, despite there being no truth in them and my throat closed up at the thought of what was more than likely going to happen next.

One boy from god knows where pulled me down by the end of my tie, tightening around my neck and making it fairly hard to breath. Another ripped off my bag and threw in into the road behind us; whilst two or three more kicked my shins hard, forcing me onto the floor as I held back my cries of pain. The first boy who had walked up to me lifted me back up by the scruff of my collar and forced up my chin so as to look back at him. The burning frustration and anger that built up behind my eyes when I looked at his face made me want to kick and shout and have a tantrum like a two year old, but the strength of his beefy arms stopped me from doing so. All the other boys stood away from us as he slammed me back into the icy sludge covered ground. A shout of agony that I just couldn't hold back anymore ripped through my vocal chords as he kicked my stomach to finish and walked away laughing with the others. Nothing but pain and anger registered in my mind, their words all somehow getting to me. Badly.

No one came to my aid; no one even turned their head to look down at me, not even the teachers. As the rest of the remaining students were herded inside the school, the fact that this was completely normal to the people around me, made me realise just how much I hated almost everyone inside that god forsaken building.

After stopping a line of cars to pick up my half crushed bag and trying to straighten up my jacket and tie so I still looked half presentable, I walked into the school just as the final bell rang. Younger years were rushing around to get to class on time, whilst the older ones lazily walked into the classrooms, not caring now that their time in this prison was almost up. My form room throughout all my years here had always been S2, a science room, which also happened to be right at the other end of the school. Walking uneasily to get to the classroom on time, I tripped over a book lying on the floor and into a unit of lockers. No one noticed as it rubbed my head and tried to get back on course, which wasn't anything special, and I reached my class in record time. Knocking on the door into the room full of desks, safety goggles, human skeletons and Bunsen burners everyone was just as loud as they had been outside, save for a few at the front reading and our teacher who didn't seem to care as she chatted to another beside her. A few people noticed my presence in the room and started to giggle as word spread around about the incident outside this morning, that's how fast words travel round when these sorts of things happen. I lowered my head and walked to the back of the room, dumping my bag beside a chair and slumping into it as I took my jacket off.

A second bell signalling that all students should now be in class rang a few minutes later, and my teacher looked across the classroom to check for missing students.

"Daniel, where's Chris today?" She directed the question at me, seeing as the seat beside me that Chris usually placed himself in was completely empty. Surprised I hadn't noticed before, my reply was slow and unsure.

"I-I'm not sure miss, he was fine yesterday. Maybe he's ill…?" The terrible excuse I had given to cover for Chris clearly wasn't up to scratch for my teacher, but she just shook her head and carried on with the register anyway. I answered my name with a quiet 'yes miss' as I wondered why yet again, Chris wasn't in school today. His attendance was one of the worst in the class, and he frequently took days off without telling anybody, including me, a person who he liked enough to actually consider his friend. Wishing that he would have told me about this little bunk so I could have joined him instead of being stuck in this hellhole, a loud knock of the classroom door made me jump so much that I fell out of my chair. Landing in an awkward position with my legs sprawling across the floor, our head teacher waltzed in, eyeing me up as he spoke to the whole class.

"Class… 11Y1, is it? Yes… well, we're only one week back in term from Christmas and I'm sure you'll all be delighted to know that you have a brand news student to join you on your journey through education!" The whole glass sighed and groaned together at the mention of the education venture, hoping that he wouldn't elaborate and witter on about it until our ears started to bleed. When he didn't, everyone started to whisper at the mention of a new student, would they be a girl, a hot girl? A boy, a smart boy, a nice boy, tall, short, fat skinny?

I too, had my part of thinking, but it only involved the thought of how quickly would they realise that I'm not the person to make new friends with, how fast would everyone else complain to them about me and the class freaks? Pretty fast was my guess. As these thoughts invaded my mind, our teacher continued to talk on about the new student, until he eventually welcomed him or her in. A fairly tall (not quite as tall as me though), lanky boy of our age shuffled awkwardly into the room, avoiding eye contact with everyone but the teacher and fiddling with the hem of his jumper as a distraction from all the stares. Bright blue eyes that actually half scared me adorned with pale skin and jet black hair struck me about his persona first, until I noticed the bright and colourful Pokémon bag strewn across his shoulders and couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Apparently, my chuckle was louder than I initially thought, as half the class stared back at me instead and I suddenly remembered that I was still lying across the classroom floor. Hands awkwardly placed behind me, chair knocked over and legs stuck in my bag. Leaping back into action, I struggled to stand up, and loudly lifted my chair back up off the ground, making a horrid squealing sound as it did. I cringed at the sound and looked up to see both teachers' heads on their hands and the new boy looking at me with a strange look plastered onto his face. Great, now he already knows you're a freak, and he hasn't even been here five minutes.

Someone sitting in front of me coughed and I felt my cheeks started to heat up, turning a bright crimson colour as I slinked back into my chair, trying hard to block out everything around me. My teacher cleared her throat and thanked the head for bringing in the new student, whilst he continued to stand there awkwardly until told where to sit.

"Well then, it's lovely to meet you, er, Mr…" She struggled to find his name on the register until the boy butted in to finish her sentence.

"Phillip Lester." His accent was different from the usual around here, and it caught my attention. Where was that from? I couldn't quite place it.

"Ah, yes. Welcome to the class Phillip, I think you'll quite like it here. Now, you can have a seat next to…" As she decided where to place the new kid my eyes popped as I realised with Chris' absence that was the only free seat left in the whole room. The inevitable was going to happen.

"Next to Daniel, over towards the back. Yes, it would be good for him to socialise more I think." A wave of sniggers echoed through the room, as I tired to glare daggers towards my teacher. Phillip, as had now been discovered, searched around for the empty seat and to my surprise, a big, cheesy grin adorned his face as he walked up and sat down easily. The class dissolved back into the general chatter and loudness as I just sat there. Staying quiet and ignoring his presence was difficult, after all he _had _just taken my only friends seat in the class.

I waited for the usual swarm of people to rush over towards Phil and interrogate him with generic questions, which gained them generic answers, ask him where he was from, idolise his hair, even talk to him about school - anything! But they never did. The new kid had no attention paid to him, which was odd, and so he was left to sit in his seat awkwardly until someone showed him what to do and where to go. As much I really didn't want to, seeing as no one else was going to make the effort, and being the nice guy that I am (ugh), my mouth turned against me and turned round so as to face him, saying simply in a friendly but cautious tone,

"Hey." It took him a second to realise that I was actually talking to him, but when he did, his expression lightened into a smile, body almost lifting out of his chair with eagerness to talk to someone his age;

"H-hey! Thanks for saving me back there… I hate being the new kid, y'know?" His slight stutter made me inwardly chuckle, feeling comfortable talking to a boy I had only met a few seconds ago,

"Yeah, it can be awkward… I'm Daniel by the way, but call me Dan." Sharing this simple amount of information with the boy made me realise how trusting I already was with him, and he laughed with his reply,

"I'm Phillip, but call me Phil. I guess you already heard my name back there anyway…" I let out a small laugh myself at this, when some people towards the front of the room looked back towards me and him. Muttering something to the lackeys, they proceeded to get up from there chairs and make their way to the back of the class. Leon was the leader of this little crew, and, slamming his hands on my desk in an attempt to frighten me, made Phil jump slightly in the process.

"Found a new lover have we Danny boy? Who's the new kid anyway? Looks like a faggot if you ask me, ey lads?" He turned towards his friends, earning several nods and 'yeahs' in his general direction. I was used to this daily torment, of course, being the only boy who didn't act like a massive dickhead to everyone I met, but, glancing to my right Phil looked completely terrified, his scary blue eyes widening.

Still slightly worried about talking back to a person who looks like they could squash you with their own body weight, I didn't retaliate. They all carried on hurling insults at me and Phil until one of them tried to make a grab for my collar again. As they did, another bell rang telling us to leave for first period, and it made Phil jump with a quiet shriek. I saw it as a chance to escape, and became too focused on getting out of that door before others managed to block it. I made no comment, but simply stood up and sped out the room as quickly as I could. From behind me I could see the swarm of people enveloping Phil as looked past them at me, scared as ever. Guiltily, I mouthed out the words, 'sorry' and sped off, leaving the first person that had treated me like a normal person all alone. My heart wrenched violently as I half ran to my next class, trying to keep thoughts of what they would do to Phil out of my head.

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**A/N: What did you think? Apology's for the rushed ending, I had a hard time thinking of where to go with that one... If any one person does have an interest in this continuing, please do let me know! Thanks for reading!**

**-Grapes :)**


	2. The boy with the scary blue eyes

**A/N: It's been a whole month since I published my first chapter... Feel free to hate me if you haven't already forgotten about me! If you're a newcomer, hello! Nothing really happens in this chapter but OH WELL.**

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**WARNINGS - Some language, I think. ^^**

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**Chapter 2**

"Henry Tudor, named after his father, was born by Elizabeth of York on June 28th, 1491. Now the interesting this about this is…"

The teachers crooning voice blurred into white noise as I sat anxiously in my chair. As much as I had been trying to concentrate on the lesson, images of Phil's terrified expression kept replaying in my head, allowing my mind to wander. Usually, lessons like this were all that kept me occupied during the school days, but questions of what Phil's fate had become were stronger than that of Tudor Monarchs and gruesome executions.

After the stunt I pulled before first period, it felt as though all eyes were on me, staring at me, judging me, though it was more than likely just the paranoia kicking in. No one cared enough about it to even give me a second glance, but I could feel my whole world being swallowed up as my distress for Phil grew stronger. And yet, though I knew I was worried for the physical damage to the boy, something told me I was much more scared for what would happen to our new found friendship, if you could call it that. Had I just wasted my one and only opportunity for making a new friend within this hellhole? It felt like I had, and a feeling of disappointment sunk unforgivingly into the pit of my stomach.

As I wallowed in my own misery through the lectures, my phone buzzed quietly from the depths of the bag underneath me. Taking a sudden interest, I darted my hand and shuffled around until the phone was in my grasp. The only person who would dare to text me during school was Chris, (my parents and grandmother being the only others who would anyway) and so I wasn't at all surprised when I found the crudely written text was from him. Chris -_ey howell meet me kings n 10 k?_ I wasn't sure how to reply. Any normal day, I would have jumped at the opportunity to escape from the horrors of double History, but today wasn't normal. Too worried at the prospect of leaving the Phil incident unresolved, I firmly declined the offer and went back to staring blindly across the classroom. Chris wasn't exactly in a great position anyway; he hadn't even told me why he was at Kings Park in the first place.

The longer I started to ponder Chris' request, the closer the break time bell approached. When there was just 5 minutes left of the lesson that had seemed to drag on for an eternity, I resolved to search for Phil during the break, with the hopes of apologising profusely. I started to pack away my things out of sight from the teacher setting our tedious new homework, and rushed out the door the second the bell started to ring, missing the class instructions set completely.

The corridors started to fill up almost immediately, people surrounding the lockers in search of new books, p.e kits and makeup. I was careful not to run into anyone as I started to dart around, eyes searching for a head of jet black hair and striking blue eyes. Phil couldn't have gone too far without knowledge of the schools layout, which he certainly didn't have yet, though I searched all around the building. After a solid 20 minutes of speed walking around, I grew frustrated for even trying, maybe Phil had been too traumatised and simply gone home, he had little reason to stick around this place anyway.

The only other location I could think to search was the medical room, which was placed right at the front of school, though I hated the place due to my frequent visits. Knocking on the door, it opened to reveal a familiar nurse, looking at me with tired, sunken eyes. I her asked if a tall, dark haired boy had come through here this morning. A puzzled expression adorned her face as she told me no one of that description had been in and, with a great sigh; I thanked her to head back into the corridor.

My frustration had been replaced with hopelessness and I started to give up on ever finding Phil at all. Heading towards my next lesson, I spotted Leon heading towards me at the far end of the corridor. Praying he hadn't yet noticed me, I panicked slightly and ran into the nearest toilet to escape. The last thing I needed right now was this thick twat to start insulting me and making things worse.

As I rushed in, breathless, the door slammed behind me with a rather loud _**CRASH**_, making me jump slightly in the process. Looking around to make sure no one had seen me; I sat down by the mirror and waited quietly for Leon to disappear outside. More than likely it would result in me being late for drama, but it was better than the alternative for sure. Whilst I sat staring down at the floor, I could have sworn I heard a muffled '_ah!_' sound coming from within one of the cubicles. Curious to the sounds origin, I stood up and walked over to the cubicles as casually as possible, listening in for anymore. As I approached the furthest cubicle from the door, another shriek could be heard from inside. My footsteps were getting noticeably louder, so the person inside must have heard me as well.

I was just about to dismiss this as completely creepy and walk away, but as I started to do so, the cubicle door opened and I turned back around to be faced with a pleasingly familiar face, complete with a tousled dark fringe and downcast eyes. I felt a grin plaster onto my face at finally finding Phil, even if it was in the boy's toilets, though it shattered as soon as Phil looked up at me, his wet eyes and pained expression telling me that his run in with Leon and lackeys didn't go down so well. I struggled to find the right words to apologise without sounding like a complete ignorant dick, and so was left starting a load of sentences before awkwardly stopping and standing, blocking Phil's route out completely. The purpling bruise on his forehead and cut to his cheek stood out like a sore thumb on his baby face, and I felt a horrible pang of regret as I studied them. Finally I could bear the silence no more;

"Oh my god Phil, I'm so sorry and I have no idea what to say but I just feel so terrible I don't know and I really hope you don't hate me and oh I'm so bad in these situations it's just I -"

Before I could waffle on anymore, I was seized without warning by Phil's arms and pulled into a tight embrace as the slightly smaller boy started to sob quietly against my chest. Too shocked to return the hug, I stood their completely frozen and let an almost inaudible "oh" pass my lips before finally realising what was happening. As Phil's grip stared to loosen slightly, I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around Phil as well, assuming for the moment that he just needed at person to hug, like you would a mum, or a close friend.

I didn't even notice my heart beating faster than what seemed humanly possible, or how Phil's hair smelt like raspberries for some reason, or how much I didn't want to let go until Phil finally pulled back from the embrace. As he did, I shuffled back slightly, embarrassed at being so caught up in the moment. Looking back at Phil, I fell back into reality and laughed quietly, hoping whatever emotional state he was in had passed. As I did so, I could have sworn that a slight pink blush started to tint his pale cheeks, as if he finally realised what he'd just done so suddenly wasn't exactly normal for two guys of our age and stature.

"Um. It's fine, honestly. I just got a bit… overwhelmed." Phil's voice echoed out against the silence that had crept up on us, causing me to look back into his eyes (which now, thank god, looked much happier than before) and concentrate; "I'm okay now though, thanks for finding me!"

Despite the situation he was facing, Phil plastered on a timid half smile. It was contagious, and so I smiled back at him with an easy response;

"Not much longer and I _would_ have given up," I breathed in a playful tone, "Thought you would've made a bee line for the exit to get away from this hell hole." Phil chuckled as I reached up to ruffle my hair subconsciously. "So…Why didn't you?"

His expression twisted, until he grinned and laughed out, "everyone needs a partner in hell, right?" before standing up straighter and shuffling over to the dirty bathroom mirror, stains from only god knows where blurring into Phil's reflection. A partner… did Phil consider me his partner? Like, friends!? I'd never managed to make myself a friend without help before, and it made my heart swelled slightly with the thought. I turned round to face Phil again, my pride of managing to befriend an actual human being crumbling away as I saw what he was doing, guilt once again filling its place. His eyes became distant and his expression vacant as he stared into the reflecting glass, touching his bruises lightly with small squeaks as he did so. I smirked sadly at the sounds and followed in his direction. "Well, I've been a pretty shitty one so far then." I looked down, too ashamed to look up at Phil, though I saw his feet twitch slightly at my use of a swear word, "I really am sorry about this morning… I shouldn't have just left you there, this is all my fault."

Phil turned to lean against the mirror and said with little confidence, "Don't worry; I'm just the new kid, these things happen." He nudged me into looking up once more, a reassuring smile on his face that seemed so genuine, I had to hold back the urge to hug him again.

"But without me they might not have! Aren't you even just the slightest bit mad at me!?" I asked him, confused at his relaxed demeanour. From out in the corridor, the break time bell sounded and the squeaking of trainers against the linoleum floor could be heard. Oh well, I just going to be late anyway.

"Look, if you really feel that bad… you can make it up to me by being _extra _nice to me for the rest of the day," A playful smirk landing onto Phil's face as he pointed to my wrist, "And besides, how could I be mad at someone with such an _awesome _taste in music!?"

As if I had forgotten that I was even wearing clothes, I looked down towards the wristband poking out of my blazer and smiled. The word '_MUSE'_ was slapped across the middle of the otherwise plain black strip, and I replied chuckling,"can't argue with that," I shrugged and looked back up at those captivating blue eyes.

"But don't count on the extra nice part; it's a struggle for me to even bother with human interaction." Phil laughed, and asked about my next lesson. After a moment of blankness, my brain woke up and I told him it was Drama, all the way towards the end of the school. He let out a short 'yay!' much to my confusion, before I discovered that it was a lesson we would be sharing. Thoughts of how this would turn out immediately played through my mind, drama was the only lesson I really bothered with anymore. We agreed to walk up to the classroom together and, after a lengthy conversation about which other bands we both enjoyed, I trotted up to the entrance door and swung it open, surprised we had no interruptions through that whole… session, thingy. My confidence in the corridor being empty was high; we were over a half hour late to third period after all. I reached out an arm towards Phil, who was still stood by the mirror, unsure of where to go, and beckoned for him to follow. He grabbed hold of my hand and I pulled him out into the hallway, our fingers entwining together for a brief moment, before I pulled away suddenly at the realisation of us nearly holding hands. A flash of confusion glimmered in Phil's eyes as I did and I only hoped he wasn't getting the wrong idea. The door slammed behind us as it closed, earning another 'ah!' from Phil; I smirked at him as he did, it was terribly easy making him jump. He noticed my gaze and stuck his tongue out at me childishly,

"Shut up, I can't help it!" I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders innocently, picking up my feet and lazily walking in the direction of our next class. Phil soon followed, speed walking in order to catch up after his delayed start. A few teachers with too much time on their hands and an air of no importance questioned us on our destinations, but Phil's 'new student' guise meant we got through with no trouble. Despite this, I was surprised no one had questioned Phil's obvious bruises, but I suppose these sort of teachers were used to it by now, as awful as that sounded.

By the time we had made our way to the razzle dazzle that was the drama studio, a joke about the size of Ms Gill's nose had left my stomach hurting (from laughter, this time) and my spirits high. The overly large doors that held other students from within it didn't seem as intimidating as usual with Phil by my side, as we turned towards each other upon entering the room. A blast of loud voices, mixed with screaming and shouting made me wince and want to hold my hands over my ears, if this room wasn't soundproof I'm sure we'd be getting a shitload of complaints, but that's drama for you. A tall, colourfully dressed older women with a hilariously bright blonde wig rushed over enthusiastically almost as soon as we stepped foot in the room. Mrs Roberts squealed in delight at the sight of us standing awkwardly in front of the whole class, her high pitched wails echoing through my ears;

"Daniel! Where have you been!? I was starting to think you weren't going to show up dear! And who's this lovely young fellow beside you… ah yes, a Mr Lester, is it? Please, call me Aimee…"

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**A/N: Well, wasn't that fun? Just want to say THANKYOU an awful lot for everyone who's liked this enough to review so far, the response from you guys is what encouraged me (slowly) to carry on :) **

**-Grapes ^^**


	3. Getting to know you

**A/N: Hi again! It didn't take me forever to update this time, yay! Also - before you start, scouse is the accent for people from Liverpool in England (where the Beatles are from hurrah!) **

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**WARNINGS - I can't remember if there's language or not, lets just say there is.**

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**Chapter 3**

"Now boys and girls, I want you to give us the best animal impression you can muster! No holding back! Be intimidating, completely overthrow your opponent! Don't be afraid to let it all out! On the count of three…"

Phil and I were placed at the end of a line of students, stood opposite each other, slightly separated from the rest. We looked at each other as the teacher relayed our instructions. Phil's eyes seemed distant again, concentrating on what Mrs Roberts was asking of us with furrowed brows and scrunched up lips, which made me want to chuckle.

It was just an exercise meant to loosen us up for the rest of the lesson, but Phil was already seeing it as a big deal, probably anxious to impress. I'd done this particular warm up a thousand times before, though usually without a partner of my own, so I knew already which animal to choose and which sound to make. It didn't require much effort. Phil closed his eyes as the countdown started;

"Three, two, one – go!"

"_**RAWWRR!"**_

Phil shouted out his lion roar as everyone else half-heartedly made odd little squawks and barks, enough sound to be considered taking part. The amount of noise he managed to make surprised me, as I stood in front of him, shocked. The whole room fell silent and all heads turned towards us both, even Mrs Roberts, though she was grinning like a somewhat insane proud parent. He even made mini paws with his hands and pounced towards me, which made me cover my hands over my mouth for fear of bursting out with laughter.

His cheeks flooded with a deep crimson red as the class started to whisper and my shoulders started to shake uncontrollably from my giggles, growing louder and louder with each second. After an awkward minute or so of this, and the usual shouts of 'faggot!' plus other generic insults, eventually everyone else in the class went back to rehearsing as they had been. Phil covered his face with his hands and sat down cross legged on the floor, head lowered in what could only assume was embarrassment. Still trying to suppress my giggles, I sat down beside him and slowed down my breathing to control myself,

"Got a thing for lions then, eh?" I teased poking Phil in the arm, making his body rock. He crookedly lifted his head up towards me. Though I could only see his scary eyes from the angle he was facing, the crinkling at the corners of them let me know that he was smiling too, as he let out a somewhat muffled whine,

"How was I supposed to know no one else would do it!? She told us to give it our all!" I started laughing again, until Phil began punching me in the leg to get me to stop.

"Okay, okay I'll stop! Don't want your inner lion to come out again!" I put my hands up in defence and raised one eyebrow towards him, upon my reply Phil crossed his arms and sulked some more.

"Why don't you show me your animal impression then if it's _sooooo_ much better than mine!" He dragged out the 'so' until he sounded like an arguing toddler, and so I rose to the challenge, it'd just have been too fun not to.

"Sure thing! You think you're mentally ready for it? It has been known to blow a few people's minds." I stated darkly, though Phil just grinned and nodded, enthusiastic to see me make an idiot of myself.

"Go on!"

"Wait, I gotta get in the _zone_," I said, closing my eyes, mocking Phil's earlier actions. I felt him kick my leg lightly and I smirked at his annoyance.

"Hurry up already!"

"Alright, alright, patience is a virtue y'know." I raised my hands and placed them on top of my head so they looked like ears, and made the best derp face possible before letting out a confident, 'meeeeehh' sound, laughing hysterically almost immediately afterwards at how stupid it sounded. Phil's face looked confused, before he joined in with the laughter, asking through muffled chuckles,

"What the heck was that!?"

"A llama, obviously!"

"Sounded like a dying sheep to me!"

"They're pretty similar, so I'll take that as a compliment."

"But llamas don't even make that noise! They hiss and spit like camels." Phil stated, using a, 'look at me I know everything' tone and started waving his arms in the air dramatically as he spoke.

"Well, this is my interpretation; it's a Dan sounding llama, not just your average spitting one." Phil lifted his head towards me with an, _'are you serious?' _face, opening his mouth to reply with an even better llama related argument.

Before his next remark could be sounded however, Mrs Roberts came clucking over towards us and gave us our assignment for the term. It was a simple enough script to take extracts from and perform as creatively and originally as possible, though obviously we had to learn it first.

'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell was a play familiar to me, though clearly not to Phil as he looked at the title blankly. We wrote out our names above the titles of each and began reading through it, mocking the characters use of language. Halfway through one particularly odd character placement, I lifted my head, looking around the room in order to avoid eye contact and trying to sound casual as possible, though failing miserably;

"So, um, are we going to be like? I mean, should we work together on this or…? If you want to do a monologue by yourself that's cool too, but loads of these need two people and I just thought…" My intense stare down with the dull beige ceiling couldn't last much longer as this rate. I snapped my neck back down harshly (causing it to click violently in the process) and looked towards Phil, looking for an answer to my awkwardly vague question.

An incredibly amused little half grin was playing on his lips; I must have sounded pretty fucking stupid if I got that sort of reaction from Phil. He laughed and poked my ribs,

"You need to stop worrying so much Dan!" I laughed uneasily along with him, though I still felt like an awkward waffly twat. He carried on when I didn't reply,

"We're working on this as partners on this dummy! Besides, it's not like I have any one else to be with now, is it!?" I let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding as a sense of relief washed down my body, allowing me to relax again.

"Come on, everyone is already ahead of us, we should catch up!" I nodded in agreement as we tried in vain to settle back down on reading through, having long since lost our place in the script. Seeing as we were only a group of two, the smallest of the class, we had to pick out the duologues from within the script and highlight those only, most of those coming from two characters named Eddie and Mickey.

"Hello." Phil said so suddenly I almost asked him why he was greeting me, 'til I realised he was reading it from the script and decided to follow along, looking at the next characters line,

"Hello."

"I've seen you before."

"Where?"

"You were playing with some other boys near my house." Phil brought the script close to his face and squinted with those bright blue eyes of his as he read; did he need glasses or something? I carried on anyway.

"Do you live up in the park?"

"Yes. Are you going to come and play there again?"

"No. I would do but I'm not allowed."

"Why?"

"'Because my mother says." Phil looked up at me questioningly and grabbed my script from my hands.

"That's not what it says!" Phil cried out, pointing at the text printed below us.

"Yes it is."

"No, look! It's; 'cos me mam says', stop reading it so posh!"

"It's not posh! It's articulate!" I squabbled back, defensive of being called posh after being bullied with it for so many years.

"And anyway, I think Mickeys supposed to be scouse, and I can't do that accent to save my life!" He threw my script back at me, smacking it onto my face and into my lap.

"Can we swap?" I grumbled as I fixed my now messed up hair, focusing down at the offending sheets of paper. Phil laughed and agreed I'd be better as Eddie anyway. After that, our roles became much better, and Phil fell into the Liverpudlian role easily.

"Hey Phil?" I paused during our third run through of a particular scene, the words slowly starting to blur in my vision, the characters lines becoming more and more tedious.

"Yeah..?" He looked up at me and our eyes locked together instantly, giving me a rush of adrenaline for… _reasons _I didn't quite want to place or think about.

"Whereabouts are you from? You sound funny."

"Gee, thanks." The sarcasm in his tone of voice surprised me, a noticeable change from his usually chipper, more upbeat pitch. He seemed to notice my surprise in his answer however, softening his reply and smiling instead,

"And erm, somewhere round Rossendale." I stared back at him blankly, hoping that he'd elaborate again until I understood. It seemed to work as he half sighed half chuckled and continued,

"That's in Lancashire. I moved down last week." He then sat up super straight and made a moustache with the pencil we'd been sharing to take down notes,

"Tally ho and toodle pip! I meant 'up north', for all you southern gentlemen." He put on a convincing 'queen' voice and pretended to curtsey on the floor with an imaginary dress, making me snort perhaps a little too loud.

"Nice try. Though I'm not sure about the girls down here having such _grand_ moustaches…" I flicked the pencil resting on Phil's upper lip, letting out an abrupt yet quiet, 'oh shit' as it went flying across the studio. We both focused our eyes intently on the twirling object as it seemed to move in slow motion towards the face of an unknown girl. Time sped up and whacked me straight in the face as it landed dramatically into the girl's eye with a repulsive _tearing_ sound. It actually managed to lodge itself into her pupil.

My face twisted up into a complete cringe, lifting up my hands in an attempt to stop what had already happened. She started to scream as her friends surrounding her began to freak out, probably wondering how and what the fuck had just happened. I'm not entirely sure I understood it myself.

The teacher's feeble shouts of authority could barely be heard over the crowding mob that had now formed around the girl, whose name had now been discovered as Sophie with everyone shouting it out five times a millisecond.

I let out a sort of agonised gurgling sound and turned back to peer at Phil, seeing his jaw wide open and brows set in a worried position. Seeing his reaction didn't help my current unease about the situation, and so I stood up in briskly and ran around, grabbing my scripts and bag.

"How the heck did you manage to get it straight into her- "Phil's scary blue eyes were still wide. I cut his words just short of finishing as I grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him to a standing position.

"Come on your highness, we're leaving for crumpets with the queen before this turns into a raging shitstorm." Phil's brain finally registered what was happening as he picked up his bag too and started to rush with me to the exit, hand still enfolded snugly into mine.

Mrs Roberts, currently more preoccupied with the girl going blind by a HB pencil, didn't notice me and Phil escaping out into the still empty corridors of the school. As soon as we were out my head started to clear, the air around me feeling less stuffy and more… well, airy. I glanced over at Phil and smiled what I guessed was a sheepish smile, though he never returned it, looking flustered,

"So, what happens now?" He breathed out quickly. I hadn't thought that far ahead, what would we do now? It was too late to skip, and I doubt anyone would believe we were both on our way to the loo…

As I stood and pondered this, and just as my fears of having to confront the insanity that had broken loose in the studio behind us were being unearthed, the lunch bell rang out through the halls. Longer than the regular lesson bells, it forced me out of my thoughts with a frightening jolt, and next to me Phil jumped so high he actually ended up whacking himself in the face, letting go of my left hand with a swift yank and one those little, 'ah!' noises I was becoming so fond of. It was lunchtime already!? Well, they do say time flies when you're having fun…

The corridors started to fill up again within seconds, and I had to grab hold of Phil's bag to make sure he didn't drown in the sea of sweaty hormonal teenagers. We waded our way through the crowds, treading on books, pens and lunchboxes as we went. I spotted the tired nurse from the medical room making her way slowly towards the drama studio and averted my eyes quickly; I didn't want to get even remotely reminded of that right now.

"Where are we going?" Phil called out from where I hoped was just behind me. I opened my mouth to reply but instead got a face and mouth full of hairspray from some year 8 girl whose hair looked stiff and greasy - major fire hazard right there. I had to stop right in the centre of a particularly rowdy crowd of students, holding back my coughs before I started to wheeze dramatically, unable to breathe properly.

My sudden halt meant that Phil had little time to react and stop also, forcing him to slam right into the back of me, still hunched over, convulsing violently like a dying seal. I felt my feet give way from underneath me as Phil's bodyweight crashed into my own, holding out my hands in front of me as I toppled to the floor. My face collided into the ground with an un-ceremonial 'thud'; dragging Phil down as well as I went.

"Ohhhh…" Phil moaned on top of me as I continued to cough, clutching my stomach in desperate need of air. Some students around us stopped and snickered, whispering to their friends and shouting out strings of generic insults as they went. Most though, just carried on route to their lunchtime destinations, and I couldn't blame them for not wanting to help the weird looking kids sprawled out across the floor half-dying - I honestly wouldn't either. Phil regained his senses and sprang up off of me with a loud,

"Oh my gosh, Dan! Are you okay!?" The strain on my stomach and legs disappeared when Phil's weight lifted, and I could vaguely see someone holding out their arm for me to grab onto. Complying, I was lifted to the ground in a few painfully slow and awkward movements; whoever was trying to lift me clearly wasn't all that strong. After a harsh slap onto my back to finally cease my whooping cough, I turned around to see a concerned pair of bright beryl eyes matched with an adorable little frown directed towards me. Putting my hands up to try and ease Phil's concern, I gasped out quietly,

"I'm fine! Honestly, I'm fine now that I can actually breathe again." I tugged my lips up into a shaky smile and reached down to grab my bag once more, its contents somehow still tucked safely inside. As I did so, I flashed my eyes around and saw one of Leon's lackeys strolling towards me and Phil, he wasn't looking too friendly either. Deciding it would be best to get out of the open corridor as soon as possible; I hurriedly spoke to Phil and pulled him towards the exit doors,

"Let's go outside for lunch, eh? It's such a nice day!" Before he could protest we were already running out into the crisp air, straight past all the usual lunchtime hangouts and round to the abandoned, more… dishevelled looking side of the school.

On the contrary, it wasn't a nice day in the slightest; it was cold as fuck outside, grey, slushy and generally miserable all round. I'm sure Phil could see that, but he decided not to question it as we sat down side by side to preserve body heat and catch our breath. When I felt like I could speak again without dissolving into shallow pants and wheezes once more, I started up a conversation,

"See, I told you it was nice out here." I stated, sarcasm dripping off every syllable. Phil shot me a look before gazing around to take in his surroundings properly; I supposed he hadn't been to this part of the school yet, being new and all.

A few worn down benches, soaked and cold from the snow lay strewn around aimlessly to our sides, along with a load of droopy, dying plants plotted along next to them. Me and Phil sat leaning against the stone wall surrounding the entrance to the school, facing the windows into the maths corridor. I could feel the wetness from the icy grass sinking into my jeans, and it was growing more and more unpleasant, though I didn't have the energy to care.

"It's so… rural." He breathed out quietly, and looked back towards me, eyes glazed over and vacant. I gave him a confused and slightly shocked look before I felt a revolting sludgy cold mess seep into my hair, followed by Phil erupting into laughter as he hid his hand behind his back. Had he seriously just thrown snow in my hair? How old was this guy meant to be again!?

"And full of this sludge stuff. Not really snow now is it?" He said between chuckles as I panicked to get the dripping liquid out of my hair, straightening the strands down as best I could with only my hands available.

After a solid 10 minutes of me sulking at the state of my hair (though it was almost back to its glorious straightened form anyway) and Phil holding back his laughter, I finally remembered that Chris wasn't around. Usually, if Chris was gone for the day, I would be left alone to sulk around the library, or wander the halls aimlessly, avoiding all human contact and waiting for the day to be over so I could rush over to the park and yell at him. But today… it had hardly crossed my mind.

The more I thought about why, the more I came to the conclusion that it had a lot to do with the ebony haired boy sitting close beside me. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but I did know that it could only be a good thing, new friends (however rare) always were.

"Hey Phil?" I voiced, his laughter having long died down into a shallow sense of quiet. I carried on staring into the window opposite; though I caught Phil turn his head to face me from the corner of my eye.

"Yeah?" He inquired, sounding only mildly interested in what I was going to respond with.

"Thanks." I said, smiling lightly and looking towards Phil as well. He didn't question my gratitude, instead he simply returned the smile and nodded, yet I could tell he knew what I was really trying to say. Thanks - for putting up with me today. Thanks - for not abandoning me straight away. Thanks -for making me feel like a normal human, if only for a little while.

We sat the rest of lunch in a comfortable silence; watching the chaos from inside the school and listening to the cars go past in the distance. It was unusual, these sorts of things never happened to people like me.

It _was_ unusual.

But it was nice.

* * *

**A/N: Before I go, I just wanted to say a MASSIVE THANKYOU to you guys who reviewed, especially Fiona, who I wish I could have replied to! See you all soon,**

**- Grapes ^^**


	4. Interrogation

**A/N: Hi.**

* * *

**Warnings - Swearing, oops.**

* * *

The time me and Phil had shared together passed all too quickly, and before we knew it, lunchtime was over and the bell signalling for the start of 6th period was already sounding loud and clear. It rang out through my ears and broke whatever tranquility had been sought between me and Phil over those precious thirty minutes of escape. As it did so, I sighed inwardly at the thought of another miserable lesson spent alone, though I could tell from Phil's suddenly downcast expression that he probably felt the same way too, though perhaps not for the same reasons.

Forcing myself up from my spot leant against the damp wall, I stretched slightly and picked up my bag from the ground. Phil followed my actions not a second after. My next lesson was Spanish, and yet my eagerness to reach class on time was swamped by a sudden urge to stay here with Phil. We faced each other, and I looked down at the straps of my bag I was picking at, not wanting to be first to shatter this long and comfortable silence. After a painfully slow minute or so however, I could stand it no longer. I lifted my head up towards Phil, who was gazing into the distance behind me with a whimsical expression on his face;

"So, do you. Um. Want me to take you to your next lesson, or, um, I mean I don't have to, but you don't know the school very well and I just thought-"

My sentence trailed of lamely without a conclusion, this obviously wasn't going anywhere. I cringed at the awkwardness I seemed to drag along with me everywhere I went. Expecting a funny stare, or even a cruel laugh, I held my head in shame. But, to my surprise Phil only let out a quiet 'ah!' from what I assume was shock and smiled at me warmly. His tongue stuck out slightly from between his teeth, lighting up his whole face, scary eyes and all. Left unsure what else to say, I was left completely and utterly dumbstruck.

"No thanks Dan, I think I'll be okay." A small amount of disappointment graced my face and Phil must have noticed.

"That is um, I don't want you to be late to your next lesson! Maths is this way… right?"His head cocked to one side as he asked me the question, pointing with an outstretched arm the way he thought his next class was, reminding a little of a lost puppy and making my heart swell uncomfortably at the sight. Before I could string enough words together to give an understandable response however, Phil began to wander off slowly in the direction he had been pointing in. For a few seconds I just stood there frozen, until my brain shook back to its senses and turned around to catch the puppy before he really did get lost.

Without saying a word, I jogged up behind Phil, chuckling softly at the little shuffle he was doing and spun him around by his shoulders so he was facing me. I then spun around to the back of him and pushed him firmly in the direction he was meant to be going in. A look of shock and confusion decorated his face before morphing into a sheepish but grateful looking smile as he saw the maths door in the distance. He let out a small 'thanks!' as he continued to head back inside, though much faster this time and I couldn't help but to pause and glance at his retreating figure as he did so.

When he reached the door leading back into the school, he swiveled back around and locked eyes with me, giving me a timid wave with the absence of a proper goodbye. I returned the gesture straight away and with much more eagerness, grinning uncontrollably in elation. I continued even after Phil had closed the heavy school doors behind him and he was nowhere to be seen, getting me a few strange glances from other passing students on their way to lessons.

"Get outta' my way faggot!"A boy that couldn't have been older than a year 9 shoved past me firmly, along with a group of whispering girls that smelt strongly of cheap perfume and makeup. Standing frozen outside amongst groups of surprisingly tough 13 year olds quickly lost its appeal, and so I hurried onto my final lesson of the day.

As I placed myself towards the back of the classroom, I lost interest in the Spanish number sentences and pro-nouns almost instantly, though I did make an effort to concentrate whenever the snotty Spanish teacher glared over to my desk, clearing her throat obnoxiously. And yet despite my efforts, my mind continued to wander.

At first, I thought of general everyday things, food, homework, guitar hero, and tumblr amongst others. But soon enough, I found myself dreaming vividly solely of a certain face, framed with dark hair and captivating blue eyes. Only when the final bell of the day rang out was I shoved out of my thoughts, eager to end the school day and travel back home.

Traditional to all my other classes, I was often the first to rush out the door and through the corridors, teacher and fellow students alike barely noticing. As I reached the doors opening towards freedom, something in me caused me to search for Phil wildly in the dash to leave. When he was nowhere to be found, a slight pang of disappointment struck me, till I stopped myself, realising how ridiculous that was, Phil wouldn't be scrambling away like me, he would be taking his time to leave, wouldn't he? I brushed the uneasy feeling off quickly, stepping into the frosty January air.

* * *

"And we both _love _Muse, and his favourite Shakeaway is Oreo and Dime bars, we should try it! Oh and –"

My rambling was cut short by a loud yawning noise coming from beside me.

"Oh Dan, I think we've heard quite enough about dear Phineas for one afternoon. Don't you?" Chris' eyes were dully looking towards me as he absentmindedly flicked a bug off his shoulder. I huffed irritably and my arms fell down to their sides;

"It's not Phineas its Phil! Were you even listening to anything I've been saying?"

Upon seeing how quickly I had been brought to frustration compared to my earlier excited daze, Chris only laughed and thumped his hand heavily across my back as I scowled back silently, awaiting his reply.

"I zoned out after the third favourite type of deodorant you both happen to use."

When all I did was intensify my grimace in Chris' direction, he leaned back and sighed dramatically. I turned my head to gaze around at the surroundings, leaving me with a few good moments of peace and quiet. This was suspicious for Chris. Why had he suddenly fell silent? Twisting my head back round to investigate, an annoyingly smug little grin was playing across his lips, and it made me uncomfortable. He looked like he _knew _something I didn't, it was instantly unbearable. He poked me in my ribs before he started to speak again;

"_Hang on, _what's got your knickers in such a twist then Danny boy? Why so quick to this Phineas guys defence, is he really _that _big a deal? Eh? Eeh? _Eeeehh?_"

With every slower more drawled out 'eh' and every poke to my side, the urge to push Chris straight off the wall we were perched on and down into the sludge behind us intensified. Instead, I slapped his prodding hand away and heaved defensively,

"Shutup about my knickers!" The shout came out louder than I'd first intended, and a short woman with a pram strolling past us looked at me with a disgusted expression before picking up her pace and hurrying out of sight. I waited for her to leave before I carried on.

"…And who says Phil is a big deal? He's just some new kid, that's all." The confidence in my words wavered, and Chris raised an eyebrow at me.

"You've been yabbing on about this guy for the last _hour _Dan, I'm sure he's more than just 'some new kid'. You don't usually get so… _attached _this easily." When I chose to face away without any reply, Chris took it as an opportunity to start annoying me again.

"Hey, Dan?" I felt a poke to my shoulder.

"Stop it."

"Daaaan?" Another one, to my back this time.

"Stop it, Chris."

"Dan." Poke.

"Dan." Poke.

"Dan." Poke.

"Daaa-"

His high pitched whines were halted mid way as I lifted up my arm and pushed him firmly, straight down into the sludge behind us. Though it was a short drop, I heard him land with a loud thump and an 'oofph!'. I burst into laughter at his pain and turned my body to look down at what damage had been done.

Chris sat up slowly from his sprawled out position and groaned, holding his head in the palm of his hand and cursing quietly to himself. I jumped down from my spot atop the wall and answered him innocently between chuckles;

"Yeah, what is it?"

Now it was his turn to scowl up at me. Choosing not to get my school uniform covered in whatever sludge Chris had just landed in, I didn't stop to help him and simply started walking on, waiting for Chris to get up and catch up to me himself. I saw from the corners of my eye as he tried and failed several times to liberate himself from the small pit of gunk he was enveloped in, only to fall back down each time and imaginatively curse a little louder.

"Could use a little help here, asshole!" He waved at me angrily, I turned around and waved back easily.

"Looks like you got it covered Chris, I'll wait for you over here, yeah?"

Satisfied with my somewhat suave answer, I placed my hands back my coat pockets and continued walking backwards without him. As I did so however, my hopelessly uncoordinated feet placed themselves upon a sheet of black ice that I wasn't looking out for. Before the rest of my body could register and prepare for what was happening, I slipped up and fell backwards straight onto my back. A sudden, sharp pain to my spine and sides hit me as my body smacked heavily to the ground.

"Shit, fuck!" Was all I could manage to say as I rolled around the floor in agony, clutching my back in pain. I sat up slowly, head spinning. In the distance, I could make out the figure of Chris limping his way over to me, jeans and shoes coated in a thick layer of chunky black sludge.

As the figure got closer, I could hear its excited laughter becoming louder.

"And I do believe, dear Dan, that _that _is called karma. Y'know – for being an asshole and all." He guffawed between laughs as I stood up stretched my back, fetching my bag that was wedged underneath my shoe.

"Shutup." _Nice one Dan, master of comebacks right here. _

"And anyway, you deserved that shit and you know it."

Chris only shrugged in reply. We left our previous wall spot behind and started wandering on through the park, side by side. The sky had started to cloud over and darken despite it only being early evening. A street lamp turned on next to me, softly illuminating its nearby surroundings. I turned to look at Chris as he stared down at his jeans in complete despair before groaning dramatically and throwing his head back in frustration.

"What _is _this shite anyway!? It's sticky and cold as fuck and leaking into my boxers – shit! Mums gonna have a field day with this one."

"That's why we invented the washing machine Chris, calm your tits."

My sarcastic tone obviously didn't sit well with the mousy brown boy, as a second after my statement I felt a slimy cold sensation run down my neck. I spasmed my shoulders and jumped away from Chris, letting out a manly squeal and flailing my arms wildly.

"Don't touch _me _with that shit! I'm in my uniform fucktard!"

"That's why we invented the washing machine though, _Dan_." Chris echoed my earlier statement slowly.

"And anyway, it barely touched your clothes your majesty, I was aiming for your neck."

"That's even worse dickhead! My neck is off limits, freak." I rubbed the spot where my neck had been assaulted free of sludge absentmindedly as we carried on walking.

"You never answered my question." Chris lifted up his elbow ready to nudge me sideways and I shot him a warning look.

"Huh?"

"Why's this Phil character such a big deal to you, remember?"

Panic struck me instantly. I thought we'd managed to drop that subject. Apparently, we hadn't.

"I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders lazily, trying to appear as casual as possible,

"Why do you even care, Chris?"

"_Ah, _so he _is _a big deal to you – I knew it! It's my job to care dear Dan, without my you'd be lost. So? Spill it."

He looked so proud of himself. I sighed, clearly, Chris wasn't going to leave this alone without an answer of sorts from me. Might as well play along. As I prepared an answer however, my mind became completely blank and I was unsure of what to say. Words kept popping up, but it was so crowded in the head I couldn't get any of them out right. After a few minutes of conflict within my brain, I settled to say whatever, pretty much anything was sure to satisfy Chris.

"You should have seen him Chris, these big blue eyes that just –"_Dan. Tone it down already. _

"He was just so –" _Say something Dan_. I took a deep breath as I struggled to think of the perfect word.

"Amazing." I took in another shaky breath.

"I mean, he treated me like a normal person, and we have so much in common I just can't help but think –" Think_ what Dan?_

"-Think he'd never try and hurt me like everyone else in that hellhole of a school is set on doing _everyday_." _Could you have made that anymore intense, Dan? Well done. _

My words drifted off at the end of my sentence, along with my gaze as my eyes became unfocused and a dreamy smile tugged across my lips at the thought of the short time I'd spent with Phil that day. Chris stared at me and made a sound of unbelieving before speaking up,

"Alright, alright – slow down there lover boy. You've barely known this guy a day and you're already halfway ready to marry him!" My smile splintered and sunk into a frown, I stopped walking a turned to face Chris, arms crossed defensively.

"Shut_up! _You nagged me all fucking night for this, and when I finally tell you, you can't to anything but take the piss? Grow up already! God, I'm _so_ sick of you being like this!" I paused to catch my breath. My voice suddenly lowered as I breathed out slowly. Chris stood still in a state of shock, eyes wide and jaw slightly open,

"And _you _wonder why I have a hard time trusting people." _Wow, Dan. You're so good at ruining friendships in your life, no wonder you never have any._

Apparently, my little rant had at least partially gotten through to Chris as he stood frozen in front of me, unmoving and silent. And yet, though I was almost seething at him, I needed to get a lift home. It was too cold to walk the journey, however much I wanted to. So, in a desperate effort to lighten the mood that I had set so very low, I tried to change the topic slightly,

"And anyway –" The frustration was still evident in my voice. "I wouldn't have even had the chance to talk to him if _you _hadn't buggered off down here all day. So, I guess I have you to thank after all." Chris smiled at my slightly, though I didn't return it.

"…Speaking of which, where the fuck _were _you today? The old trout got all queer at me during register, Christ." The knowing little grin from earlier reappeared on Chris' face and he laughed.

"Oh _man, _wish I could've seen her face! Bet it was priceless…" He wiped a fake tear from his face. Why was he avoiding my question?

"Chris."

"Daniel."

"Tell me where you were."

"Hmmm… no."

"What!? Why not!? You can't just ditch me all day with no explanation, prick!"

"I was… sick this morning."

"Bullshit." He sighed sadly and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Fine. It's none of your business, Dan, really. I don't have a sworn duty to tell you everything I get up to without you."

I teared his arm off of me, almost whacking him in the face in the process.

"But apparently _I_ do." I spat out perhaps a little too harshly, but I was already annoyed - this was just the breaking point. I started to walk on ahead at an ever quickening pace, leaving Chris behind.

"Oh, come on Dan. Don't be like that." Chris called out from behind me but I didn't stop, it was too late for that.

"Fuck off. It's cold, I'm going home." I walked faster and a strong gust of wind blew in my face. I pulled my thin coat around me close to conserve body heat, though not much was left.

"Dan, you twat, it's freezing! I'll give you a lift home." I almost stopped there and then and took Chris up on his offer, it was good half an hour walk home from the park and my uniform wasn't exactly keeping me warm. But I just wasn't able to swallow my pride and look so pathetic ambling my way back to where Chris stood.

"No! Just go home Chris." I could feel my fingertips starting to go numb as another gust of icy wind hit my head on, travelling down my shirt and making me shudder violently. After that, I didn't get another reply, so I assumed Chris had given up and done as I'd asked to go home too, though I didn't look back to check.

Night fell around me quickly as I made my way back home, though upon realising my iPod wasn't in my bag, the walk soon became dull and I couldn't have been more impatient to reach the comfort and warmth of my house. When I finally found myself stood on my doorstep, my hands were stiff and shaking so much they could barely unlock the front door. It took several attempts of me dropping my keys on the floor and cursing loudly before I finally managed it.

Upon opening the door leading inside, a pleasant wave of warmth hit me instantly and lips tugged into a small, relived smile. Following that, the aroma of a dinner I couldn't quite place being cooked graced my nostrils as I kicked off my shoes and dumped my coat on the rack opposite.

I wandered into the kitchen to find my mum huddled over the oven, pulling a dish of something hot out carefully with her bright spotty oven mitts. I stood beside her as she stood up in order to place it on the side.

"Hi mum." My greeting must have caught her off guard, as she jumped suddenly, hitting her head on the fan above the cooker and almost dropping the bubbling dish of what I could now identify as Sheppard's pie all over herself. Clumsiness runs in the family after all. After the panic of ruining dinner was over, she placed the dish and her mitts onto the kitchen side, turning to face me. Warmth flooded into her deep eyes and a loving smile spread across her face as she looked me up and down;

"Dan! You scared me! Oh god – you look freezing! Why are you home so late!?" She pulled me into a tight hug and spoke with concern laced into her voice. I returned the hug loosely but became unsure of what to reply. After a few slow seconds, I mumbled out weakly,

"…I walked home." I shrugged, looking down at my socks and wiggling my toes through the dark navy fabric.

"You silly thing! What happened to your lift home?" She rolled her eyes at my stupidity, letting go of our embrace and bending down to reach for four dinner plates and assorted cutlery. I only shrugged my shoulders again.

"I don't know."

She sighed sadly and dropped the topic, knowing I was unlikely to say anything else. She started serving portions of pie onto the plates.

"Well, dinners ready now. Why don't you come and sit with me and your father?"

I didn't reply to that, and only shuffled into the corner of the room as mum called my dad and brother into the kitchen. I avoided eye contact with both; though my dad didn't even notice me, my brother shot me a dirty look as he took his food through to the dining room, headphones still blaring in his ears. Once all three were sat comfortably in the other room eating, I grabbed a diet coke from the fridge and picked up my serving of dinner from the side. As I made my way up the stairs, balancing my food, drink and cutlery, bag still resting on my shoulders, all in one, I heard my mother quietly speaking after a mouthful of potato and gravy;

"Why can't Dan come and sit down _here _with his family for once, instead of hiding away all the time in that little room of his? Oh – I just wish he made more of an effort…" Neither of the other two eating made any indication at replying to my mothers concerns, and the table fell back into silence until my brother started up another conversation about his latest and greatest girlfriend that would undoubtedly leave him next month anyway.

A dull throb of self loathing hit me upon hearing my mothers words, though I made no sound for fear of my family hearing me and simply continued making my way to the solitude and comfort of my room. Thoughts of sudden frustration towards myself flooded into my head upon shutting my bedroom door forcefully.

Why had I turned out so _wrong? What _was so wrong with me? My father told me regularly to be more like me brother and, though my mother would never say it to my face, I could tell I was a disappointment to her as well.

I took in a deep breath to steady my throat that was beginning to feel heavy and slowly opened my eyes. Dark walls and a cluttered floor welcomed me as I did so. I trudged over to my bed and fell dramatically onto my mattress, kicking my school bag to the far corners of the laundry pile.

Suddenly, my phone went off in the silence, making me jump and grab it from my pocket with lightening speed. It was a text from Chris - _sorry about earlier fil is probs a nice guy r we cool? _I rolled my eyes at his complete disregard of grammar, even through text. Chris almost never apologised for anything, so I took this one as sincere and replied easily, _Yeah, Chris. We're cool. Just be nice to him tomorrow, okay? He's… a little more sensitive than you are. _

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed again. Chris _– what u sayin? Im nice all the time howell dnt worry about it_

I laughed to myself and put my phone down, not entirely in the mood for having a text war with Chris, it was unlikely I would win anyways. I sat crossed legged on my bed and pulled my plate onto my lap, eating my food in unenthusiastic bites. Still covered by darkness, the only light was from the street lamps shining dully though my windows, bathing part of my room in a soft light. My appetite started to fade as I continued to eat until I felt physically sick at the thought of forcing down any more, though my mums cooking was good, I dropped my plate onto the floor with a quiet clatter.

I did nothing but lay in the darkness alone with my thoughts until I realised just how dangerous that was for someone like me. I thought about reaching back for my bag and actually attempting something productive, thought I knew my brain was far to crowded with other ideas to concentrate nearly enough for that, and quickly gave up with the idea.

After a few more minutes of me spread out uselessly on my bed, I opted instead to continue with the only past time I'd ever seemed to be good at. I grabbed my laptop from the end of my duvet and switched the power on, seeing it spark back to life within seconds. I changed out of my uniform lazily as it powered up till I was clad only in my boxers. Jumping back into my bed comfortably, I rested my laptop snugly on my stomach and plugged in my headphones. As the first episode of 'Bubblegum Crisis' began to play, my mind finally numbed into a haze of Japanese girls and badly dubbed voices.

* * *

_**sorry this is so late (it's a little longer than usual if that's any consolation) don't punch me please **_


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